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Monday, September 14, 2009

Cougnou (Bread of Jesus) - Brussels, Belgium - Blue Monday

This beautiful neo-gothic building stands in the Grand' Place opposite the town hall in Brussels, Belgium. It's called the "Maison du Roi" by the French and the "Broodhuis" by the Dutch. Today the building is home to the historical City Museum. In the 13th century the building that stood here was used to sell bread and the building was called the "Bread House." Over time the building was used by the royals and became known as the "King's House." Both names are still used to identify the building. Quite a bakery, don't you think?

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Belgium is renowned for its bakeries and among their specialties is the cougnou, a rich brioche-type bread shaped to resemble a swaddled infant. It is locally known as the Bread of Jesus and it's especially popular in the winter months and during the Christmas season. I stumbled onto a very old recipe for it while doing research for another bread I wanted to make. I've made a few changes to the recipe because the original instructions were difficult to follow and some of the ingredients were hard to find. The basic recipe, however, remains the same. This is a delicious loaf of bread.

Directions:1) Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in flour. Pour warm milk into well. Add yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes. Mix. Add eggs, granulated sugar and cinnamon. Beat the mixture with a spoon (you can use your electric mixer if you wish). Gradually add butter. Turn dough onto a floured board and knead until dough no longer sticks to work surface. Place in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Allow to rise 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Turn onto work surface. Knead in raisins and 1 cup coarse sugar crystals. Divide dough into six balls. Lightly grease or spray 2 cookie sheets. Connect three balls, representing head, body and legs, on each sheet. Allow to rise until doubled in size.2) Preheat oven to 430 degrees F. Combine egg yolks with 3 teaspoons milk. Brush loaves with mixture. Sprinkle with reserved 2 tablespoons sugar crystals. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a deep golden brown. Yield: 2 loaves.

Bread of Jesus, what an interesting name and history. Because we celebrate communion in our fellowship with a full meal and serve freshly baked bread and wine, this post intrigued me. I will be making this bread....I love to bake bread, especially this time of year!

Good morning, Mary,This is a LOVELY building. Don't you know it must have been quite a job to construct.!This sounds like a delicious bread. I do believe I could live on bread alone!!;O) Thankd for the recipe.

OMG Mary, that bread has to be out of this world. The ingredients are very rich. Boy would I love this bread. Your history on Belgium's bakeries is very interesting to read. One day I would love to visit there. I grew up eating homemade bread. My mom made the best bread ever. I think I was the only kid in school that had a sandwich on homemade bread. Mmmmmm, I love that memory. When my mom was a young girl, she made the bread for her family for 3 cents a loaf. She had nine brothers and sisters and hired hands on a dairy farm to feed. My grandfather was a wealthy man but he never acted like it. She loved earning that money and willingly made the bread every day. Now you know why her bread was so good. She was an expert at making bread. BIG smile.

Coming from a girl who grew up in a bakery...both my dad and grandfather owned bakeries...that bread is beautiful! Lovely story about the bread and what an amazing architectural masterpiece that building is.

Mary, thanks so much for the comments you leave on my blog. Your food - and your photo's - are so beautiful & professional, I feel quite embarrassed when I think of the very basic/simple cooking which I do - yet you are always so complimentary of it ... thank you !

I know I've said it before, but your Grandson's are just adorable .... the photo of little Joshua in his hat .... too precious for words !

I'm wondering if this is the bread that I have been searching for a recipe for a long time! It certainly looks similar. The bread I enjoyed was known as 'koekebrood'Almost yellow in colour and with a dark soft crust, slightly sweet - my Belgian friends enjoyed it with chocolate!I will try your recipe and let you know!

The cougnou is also known in Liege as "petit bonhomme" is just like those I use to eat when I was a little girl, except for the sugar,they use belgian pearl sugar.I still make them to my kids on St nicolas'day.It was a chalenge to find a real belgian pearl sugar...but I found a online store that sell it at belgianpearlsugar.com they imported directly from Belgium.So try it with the pearl sugar it will taste even better.This is the link:http://www.belgianpearlsugar.com

The cougnou is also known in Liege as "petit bonhomme" is just like those I use to eat when I was a little girl, except for the sugar,they use belgian pearl sugar.I still make them to my kids on St nicolas'day.It was a chalenge to find a real belgian pearl sugar...but I found a online store that sell it at belgianpearlsugar.com they imported directly from Belgium.So try it with the pearl sugar it will taste even better.This is the link:http://www.belgianpearlsugar.com

I am trying to source an old recipe for cougnou, preferably pre-1600. If anyone can source this for me, it would be amazing. Cougnou is an amazing bread- I used to live in Belgium. Now I want to submit it for a medieval cookery competition, but while I know it has been around since 5th century, I can't seem to find a recipe!

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